In a sandbox-style MMO like EVE Online, it is sometimes up to the player to figure out how best to pass their time. This is generally popular with EVE players, but can result in new players sometimes not knowing what to do next. Need some suggestions? We've got plenty!

This is the second part of a series on activities in EVE Online. The first part can be found here.

Plan For The Future

1. Design New Ship Setup: EVE Online is a game that rewards pencil pushers. If you can develop a successful new take on fitting a ship it will pay dividends in PvP and PvE. The next so-called "flavor of the month" ship setup is waiting out there for you to find it. Even if you are probably not going to break new ground, it is still worthwhile to explore your options in an application like EFT or a fitting site like Battle Clinic.

2. Create A Skill Training Plan: It can be challenging training toward your long term goals when there always seems to be something off-plan worth training in the here and now. Skip the fuss by making a skill plan and sticking to it. EVEMon and other software out there can help with this, big time.

style="font-style: italic;">Hanging out with other EVE players is guaranteed to improve your enjoyment of the game.

3. Invest In A Commodity: Very few markets in EVE are stable all year round. Even low-end staples like the mineral markets have periodic upsets due to price manipulation, game mechanic changes, or unfolding political events in null-security space. Do some research and guesswork, pick a horse, bet on it, and hope to god that the price of the item goes up. It isn't exactly relaxing, but it is how some of the biggest stacks of money in EVE Online have been made.

Socialize

4. Climb The Ladder: Moving up the ranks in a corporation consists chiefly of three things: seeming trustworthy, making yourself useful, and sucking up. Engage these practices with gusto and watch your corporate rank soar. Expertise in PvP, fleet leadership, or moon mining helps too, of course.

5. Post On EVE-O: The official EVE Online forums are run by CCP, and run the gamut from enlightening to idiotic, often at the same time. Reading and (if you must) posting can be an entertaining diversion, especially for people with office jobs for whom Facebook lacks that thrill of forums-based PvP.

6. Fraternize: Getting to know the people in your corporation is a big part of what makes EVE rewarding. Hear their stories, tell your own, and work together to get more stuff done in-game. A big part of the MMO experience is meeting people that you never would in the normal course of your life. Don't miss out.

7. Schmooze With Strangers: One never knows what being friendly will get you. Chatting up that fellow in local can get you invited to a new corporation, deals on buying and selling, information about your enemies, or just good company. Best of all, it costs nothing.

Trade

8. Sell Off Your Junk: Most EVE players accumulate big stacks of junk over their time in EVE. After a few years, it can almost be more worthwhile to run missions than to waste time trying to sell it all off. Nevertheless, you should occasionally peruse any caches for high-value items that you no longer need or want. Ship hulls and tech two modules are usually a good place to start.

9. Market Your Goods: Advertise in-game, post on your corporate forums, join in-game mailing lists, post on the official EVE forums, talk to your friends about your business. The more you put your business out there, the more ISK will end up in your pockets.

10. Gossip About Trade Secrets: If there's one thing EVE players like to do, it's talk about how rich they are. The "Market Discussion" sub-forum on the official EVE forums is one such place to do that, though cards are held close to the chest there. Gabbing with fellow members of your corporation is more likely to get you some juicy trade secrets.

11. Go Blueprint Bargain-Hunting: Jita is brimming with deals. The contracts market is an especially great place to find deals. For example, I'm fond of skimming for blueprints that cost less than a million ISK. If you have a bit more expertise, blueprints for freighters, carriers, and capital construction components will all occasionally have underpriced blueprints available. Buy and re-list the item for a quick, easy profit.

12. Supply Your Corporation: If you are making a run to Jita or another trade hub, whether you are doing so from a mission-running system or null-sec, it is a good idea to ask your friends if they need anything. Load up, bring them their stuff, and sell it to them at-cost. Or if you are like me, tack on a service charge.

Salvage

13. Salvage Wrecks: Salvaging is easy and as an activity it lends itself especially well to newbies. Whether you are salvaging random wrecks on gates, your own mission wreckage, or the missions of a friend that runs level 4 missions, salvaging is an excellent way to help your bank account.

14. Ninja Salvage: Salvaging the wreckage left over from running missions is hard work, and a lot of EVE players don't bother. Or if they bother, they won't be able to stop you from probing them out, warping into their mission, and salvaging their wrecks out from under their nose. It's legal and CONCORD won't let them fight you unless you take something out of the wrecks rather than just salvage them. Good clean fun!

15. Build Rigs: Rigs are a great market because they are generally sold at gross markups over material costs. This is especially true of medium and small rigs, which are easily made even by very new players. Work out which rigs sell best and get yourself a blueprint set.

style="font-style: italic;">If you find yourself bored with normal industrial projects, try some of the big stuff.

16. Set Up A POS: Setting up a POS opens a whole world of industrial possibilities and is pretty necessary for an industrialist to Do Big Things. Just knowing how POS work is enough to get you in with some corporations, which is nice. It's also sort of like your house in space, and you haven't truly played EVE Online until you have grappled with running one.

17. React Moon Minerals: Though the pure mining side of EVE is perhaps too dangerous and competitive for most players, there is relatively little to prevent a player from buying moon minerals in Jita and reacting them in a quiet corner of low-security space. The profits can range from lackluster to a few hundred million a month, but will generally at least offset the cost of whatever else you do on your reaction tower.

18. Copy Blueprints: Copying blueprints for high-demand ships like the maelstrom can be relatively lucrative, but it is much more so if you do not need to deal with the congestion that population pressure puts on the copying slots located in high-security space. If you want to go whole-hog, you can set up a research POS with private laboratory structures. These structures have private copying, research, and invention slots with significant reductions.

19. Build Capital Ships: Building capital ships is regarded as one of the end-games for industrialists in EVE Online. If you can master the huge supply chain issues and logistical issues surrounding the construction of the massive capital class of ships, you can do pretty much anything. It's not an activity for poor players, but then again that's why it's considered an end-game.

20. Make Capital Parts: Building capital ships is difficult and expensive, but there is also a huge middle market for the capital parts used to build capitals. At any given moment, there are good odds that at least one capital component costs more on the market than it costs to make them, with the profit per hour high enough to keep most players interested. If you're really brave and want to get even more into it, you might try doing the math on diving into the tech two capital component market.

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